help, poults won't eat.

[Silkie-Feet]

I have four 3-4 day old poults in my brooder. They aern't eating or drinking

,but they are chirping up a storm. I found one dead this morning. how should i get them to eat and drink? i have dipped thier heads in the water, and opened thier beaks and put wet chicken food in there. help, because i am cluleless

 

[chicmom]

I bought my first poults this year, from a man at a swap meat. (I picked his poults because they looked so well cared for.) Anyhow, he told me he likes to raise his poults with chicks, because they show the poults what to do.

Can you get a few chicks to put in with them. My two are doing very well, but I have them with five chicks.....

 

[Silkie-Feet]

i wish tsc was still having there "chick days". I have 50 chick eggs due to hatch the 20 th, but thats proabally to late. this is my first time with turkeys, so i'm a bit worried. should i try to force feed them yokes through a medicine dropper, like i have done with chicks? i'll try to find some chicks though....

 

[ColbyNTX]

I always start mine with guinea keets but you can try to dip your kinger in their water and then in their crumbles. With the food stuck to your finger, see if you can get them to peck it off your finger.

 

[Silkie-Feet]

i'll try that.

 

[Dawson]

we always put something shiny in ares

 

[Hoosierchickengal]

I did start mine with a chick, but also put their food on aluminum foil and put shiny marbles in their water. They like to peck at shiny things. It may help.

 

[ivan3]

Grab up some small moths and tear one wing off. Place fluttering thing in feeder (helps to hold on to the one wing with your fingers - kind of like a hen's beak). Might have to dip beaks in water a few times - or hold poult with beak over waterer and drip a little over tip of beak with finger. 28-30% gamebird starter (once they get eating) will move along development. Should really just start glomming down on third/fourth day (yolk sack used up), not dying. Work with the poult that is the liveliest (all you have to do is train one - the rest will follow). Sit and watch what they are doing (picking up/beaking bedding, etc.), if they are nipping at `stuff' that is the best time to intervene.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
That would seem to indicate that something else is wrong. Are you sure the temperature and lighting are proper? Are they too cold, or too hot? Is the bedding nice and dry, or has it gotten wet?

 

[Silkie-Feet]

every thing in the cage is correct. it is a 55 gallon tank with the light in one end, so they can moderate thier temp. and the bedding was dry paper towls.

THIS MORNING ALL OF THEM WERE DEAD,

guess they couldn't learn to eat. it's safe to say i won't try keeping turkeys for awhile.